The current rapid pace of scientific discovery offers unprecedented opportunities for direct application of basic and clinical scientific findings to the problem of gastrointestinal disease. This progress will be optimized by providing rigorous training in research thought and technique to a group of surgical residents who have expressed a strong interest in pursuing careers as gastrointestinal (GI) surgical investigators. The Specific Aim of this program, currently in its twentieth year of funding, is to provide formal training in either clinical or laboratory research to this select group of surgical residents as an integral component of their postgraduate clinical training. One trainee per year is competitively selected from those in the general surgery training program at Johns Hopkins University as well as accomplished surgical residents from other institutions. Trainees will elect to enter either the Laboratory Research Track or the Clinical Research Track. Each trainee will be guided to choose a senior preceptor/mentor from our list of participating faculty, all of whom have demonstrated an outstanding record of achievement in either laboratory or clinical research, as well as an established record of successful trainee mentorship. The formal scientific training period begins after the third clinical year, and lasts for two or three consecutive years. Many of the T32 trainees complete our program with additional Masters or Doctoral degrees. All trainees are assigned an Individual Progress Committee charged with critiquing the trainee's research, monitoring long-term progress towards an independent investigative career, and aiding in the selection of appropriate course work. Additional oversight and guidance is provided by both Internal and External Advisory Boards. For Clinical Research Track trainees, the research training environment includes the Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, in which either Masters or PhD programs are pursued. This T32 training is uninterrupted by clinical duties, and includes formal training in research ethics and mandatory course work directly relevant to the research topics, and tailored to individual interests. All our trainees are immersed in an outstanding educational environment, which includes the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, the NIDDK-funded Johns Hopkins Digestive Diseases Research Core Center, and the NCI funded Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and the School of Public Health. The specific recruitment of underrepresented minorities to this program is enhanced by the activities of the School of Medicine's Office for Diversity, as well networking and advertising through the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Since inception in 1996, sixteen trainees have completed their combined clinical and research training. All have achieved full-time academic faculty positions in prominent institutions, and ten have already achieved extramural research funding. In this manner, the program is designed to generate a superbly trained group of GI surgeon-scientists who will provide academic leadership for the 21st century.